Users of the Glasgow South East foodbank who are eligible for Fuel Bank vouchers will today see the amount they receive increase from £30 to £49 for the winter period.

The npower Fuel BankTM aims to remove the stark choice between heating or eating for participating foodbank clients with prepayment meters.

The Fuel Bank vouchers are designed to give users around two weeks’ worth of energy and, to ensure this remains the case, the value of the voucher increases to £49 during the winter (1st November to 31st March.)

All eligible households using foodbanks with pre-payment meters can benefit, regardless of whether or not they are npower customers.

Matthew Cole, Head of Policy & Social Energy at npower, said: “As the nights draw in and the weather gets colder, we increase the support we provide to npower Fuel Bank clients. Every day we’re helping people who have no hot water and no way to heat their food – and the additional amount over the winter provides a little more reassurance.”

Launched in April 2015, the npower Fuel BankTM is a partnership between npower, Durham Christian Partnership, National Energy Action and The Trussell Trust. The scheme now runs in 14 areas and 59 foodbank centres across the country and, to date, has helped over 35,000 people across the UK access over £500,000 worth of energy.